


between the pylons hangs the galaxy

by beskars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Anakin and Obi-Wan have a nice chat outside the temple, Gen, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, POV Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a lot of suffering is avoided
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:47:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beskars/pseuds/beskars
Summary: Anakin shook his head reflexively, his mouth set in a grim line that gradually faded as he leaned into Obi-Wan’s touch. He suddenly looked very young, a child trapped in the body of a man who had been fighting far too long. His face shifted, reticence giving way to an almost desperate need to unburden himself as he drew a shuddering breath.“He knows, Obi-Wan,” Anakin told him, so quietly that Obi-Wan could barely hear him over the hum of air traffic. “He knows I’ve been asked to spy on him.”
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 12
Kudos: 194





	between the pylons hangs the galaxy

between the pylons hangs the galaxy

  
  


Obi-Wan watched as Anakin strode up the temple steps, stepping out from the shadow of the pylon as his former Padawan approached.

“Anakin!” he called out, raising one hand in greeting as the younger Jedi halted, turning to face Obi-Wan with a glower. 

“What are you doing out here?” Anakin asked accusingly, looking beyond Obi-Wan as if he might find the answer looming behind him. 

“Waiting for you,” Obi-Wan replied, hesitating for a moment as he looked into Anakin’s stormy blue eyes. “I need to speak to you about what happened yesterday.”

“You mean when you asked me to spy on the Chancellor?” Anakin demanded, too loudly, and Obi-Wan lifted a hand to gently silence him, comforted to see a flash of sheepishness in Anakin’s expression. 

The walkway was deserted, but Obi-Wan ushered Anakin between the statues of the Warrior Masters anyway, casting a wary look around before speaking once more.

“I wanted to apologize,” Obi-Wan told him softly, folding his arms over his chest and fixing Anakin with a level gaze. “I never should have put you in this position.”

Anakin looked surprised by the admission, his guard dropping momentarily before shooting back up with a scowl.

“I thought you said it was the Council who was putting me in this position,” he countered reproachfully. 

“I may not agree with their decision, but I didn’t voice my objection. Therefore, I am just as much to blame as anyone else. Possibly more so, given I know the full nature of your relationship with the Chancellor,” Obi-Wan said, searching Anakin’s face for something, anything that told him he was wrong.

Ah. There it was. The tiny sliver of guilt hidden in the way Anakin’s mouth turned down at the corners, imperceptible to anyone but Obi-Wan. So there  _ was _ more between his former Padawan and the Chancellor, something Anakin didn’t want to share with him. The notion burrowed in through his chest, nestling in the cavity it found there and filling it with unease. 

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan began carefully, reaching out and resting his hand lightly on the other man’s shoulder, “Is there something you want to tell me about your friendship with the Chancellor?”

Anakin shook his head reflexively, his mouth set in a grim line that gradually faded as he leaned into Obi-Wan’s touch. He suddenly looked very young, a child trapped in the body of a man who had been fighting far too long. His face shifted, reticence giving way to an almost desperate need to unburden himself as he drew a shuddering breath.

“He knows, Obi-Wan,” Anakin told him, so quietly that Obi-Wan could barely hear him over the hum of air traffic. “He knows I’ve been asked to spy on him.”

Obi-Wan knew the Chancellor was a shrewd man, but even still, he was startled by how quickly he had picked up on the intentions of the Council. Whether this could be credited to his perceptiveness or to Anakin’s inability to fully commit to the deception, he was uncertain, but it was even more evident now that the assignment could not have been more misguided. But if that had triggered his internal alert system, it was nothing like the alarm he felt at Anakin’s next words.

“He thinks the Jedi are plotting to overthrow him so that they can take control of the Republic,” Anakin said miserably, barely able to meet Obi-Wan’s gaze. 

Obi-Wan’s eyes narrowed as he gripped Anakin’s shoulder tighter, almost unable to comprehend the gravity of what his former Padawan was telling him, a single word snagging in his heart. 

“ _ They _ ?” Obi-Wan questioned, watching as the guilt in Anakin’s expression deepened. “Surely you mean  _ we _ , Anakin?”

Anakin was silent, leaving Obi-Wan no choice but to fill the emptiness between them, his steady, measured tone sliding towards something accusatory as he tried to coax something,  _ anything  _ from the younger man. 

“Or has he been so successful in poisoning your mind against the Jedi that you refuse to call yourself one?” Obi-Wan continued, and Anakin gave him a sharp look, a flash of anger in his bright blue eyes.

“Tell me it isn’t true then!” Anakin answered fiercely, his jaw tightening. 

“Anakin, of course it isn’t true!” Obi-Wan replied immediately, shaking his head in disbelief. “All the Jedi want is to end this war, surely you must know that!”

Anakin fell silent once more, turning away from Obi-Wan’s touch.

“It was wrong of the Council to put you in this position,” Obi-Wan reiterated gently. “It was wrong of  _ me.  _ But clearly we were not wrong to be suspicious of the Chancellor.”

Anakin’s gaze snapped back to him in an instant.

“Why? He isn’t the one asking me to betray my friends,  _ you  _ are,” he said, raising a hand and jabbing a finger in Obi-Wan’s direction for emphasis.

“Right, he’s only trying to convince you the Jedi are trying to overthrow the Republic,” Obi-Wan said dryly, relieved that Anakin had the grace to look momentarily chastened at that, shifting uncomfortably before meeting his eyes once more. “I know you have lost faith in the Council, Anakin—”

“It is the Council who has lost faith in  _ me _ ! They’ve  _ never _ trusted me,” Anakin interrupted vehemently, his face clouding once more. 

Obi-Wan hesitated, knowing that any overstatement to the contrary would only lend credibility to Anakin’s fears.

“That is precisely what the Chancellor wants you to believe,” he said softly after a moment, folding his arms over his chest. “But it is not true. The Council trusts you.  _ I  _ trust you.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Anakin muttered, swallowing hard as his gaze flickered back to Obi-Wan.

“Why do you say that?” Obi-Wan asked sharply, peering at him, silently imploring Anakin to drop his defenses. “Anakin, what does the Chancellor know about you that I don’t?”

“What makes you think he knows something that you don’t?” Anakin shot back, though his words were heavy with defeat.

Obi-Wan would have smiled had it not been for the delicacy of the situation. Even now, when so much had changed between them, Anakin knew that trying to keep things from him was a futile effort. The thought was a small comfort amongst a galaxy made up of uncertainty.

“Anakin, you have never given me a reason not to trust you. But clearly the Chancellor knows something that he thinks would cause me to doubt you and is using it to try to manipulate you, though to what end I can’t guess,” Obi-Wan told him evenly, and Anakin seemed to sag with relief, as if he had been waiting to hear those exact words for a very long time.

After a long moment, he spoke.

“Padme and I…” he began raggedly, drawing in an unsteady breath as he struggled to continue before letting it out in a rush, his face twisted with guilt.

“Are together. Yes, I know,” Obi-Wan said gently, a small smile lifting the corner of his mouth as Anakin’s eyebrows shot up.

“You— _ what _ ?” Anakin stammered, his stunned expression only serving to add to Obi-Wan’s amusement.

“Anakin, I may be getting older but I’m not blind,” Obi-Wan went on wryly, watching as a flush spread over his former Padawan’s cheeks. “Well, perhaps I was in this instance, but willingly so,” he amended, earning a quiet huff of laughter from Anakin. 

“If you knew…why didn’t you ever say anything?” Anakin asked quietly, and Obi-Wan paused for a moment, regarding him.

“Did I really have to?” Obi-Wan replied, the amusement fading from his voice. “It’s always been my understanding that we had agreed not to discuss it, for us to both pretend I had no idea what was happening. And I was glad to, if it meant you could find some happiness amongst all the tragedy this war has brought upon us.”

Anakin said nothing in response but inclined his head in a slight acknowledgment of their unspoken agreement, his eyes full of gratitude.

“But perhaps I was wrong to look away. Perhaps if you had felt as though you could confide in me about it, the Chancellor wouldn’t have been able to use your relationship with Padme against you,” Obi-Wan continued regretfully, and Anakin let out a long sigh, shaking his head.

“It’s not your fault, Obi-Wan,” Anakin told him, sounding very weary. “I never wanted to put you in a position where you had to keep a secret like this from the Council—”

“Nevertheless,” Obi-Wan interrupted firmly but without anger, “that is the position we find ourselves in. And it cannot remain a secret forever, you know this.”

“No, it can’t,” Anakin said almost bitterly, hesitating before speaking again, much softer now. “Obi-Wan...Padme is pregnant.” 

“Oh dear,” Obi-Wan replied, the words slipping out before he had a chance to reign them back in and hastily continuing, “That is wonderful news, Anakin. Truly. But it does complicate matters.”

Anakin nodded in assent, looking rather miserable.

“It does,” he agreed, crossing his arms over his chest and fixing Obi-Wan with a pleading expression. “I’ve started having dreams about her, Obi-Wan. Bad ones.”

“Like the dreams you used to have about your mother?” Obi-Wan questioned carefully, watching as Anakin nodded again. 

“In all of them...she’s dying,” Anakin whispered, his voice breaking, and Obi-Wan’s heart clenched at the pain there as he reached out to lay his hand on Anakin’s shoulder.

“But that’s all they are Anakin, just dreams,” he told him softly, and Anakin stiffened, glaring at him. 

“They weren’t just dreams when they were of my mother,” Anakin said sharply, and Obi-Wan recoiled slightly. “I couldn’t save her, but I can still save Padme.”

“I suppose the Chancellor knows about these dreams as well,” Obi-Wan remarked after a moment, keeping his tone as level as he could as Anakin inclined his head fractionally in response. “And what does he have to say about them?” 

Anakin was silent, shifting his weight uncomfortably as he gathered his words.

“He told me he could help me,” Anakin told him guardedly, waiting for Obi-Wan’s reaction before continuing. 

“How?” Obi-Wan pressed him gently, peering at Anakin as something akin to shame flashed across the other man’s face. 

“You won’t like it,” Anakin warned, and Obi-Wan shook his head as if to dismiss the notion.

“Anakin, if you’re concerned that whatever it is you’re about to tell me will only increase my distrust of the Chancellor, you need not worry. I very much doubt that there’s anything you could say at this point that could make me warier of him than I already am,” Obi-Wan replied evenly, and Anakin nodded, drawing in a deep breath before speaking once more.

“He told me the story of Darth Plagueis,” Anakin began quietly, and Obi-Wan jolted in alarm.

Well, Obi-Wan admitted to himself, he couldn’t have been more wrong. Of all the troubling things Anakin had revealed to him about the Chancellor, the knowledge that he was filling his former Padawan’s head with the teachings of the Sith was by far the worst. A chill ran down his spine as his fingers dug into Anakin’s shoulder insistently.

“He  _ what _ ?” Obi-Wan demanded icily, drawing a nervous look from Anakin, not waiting for a reply before soldiering on. “And did he tell you how he came about this legend?”

“He said...he said he came across it in some of his readings,” Anakin mumbled, deliberately avoiding his gaze as Obi-Wan let out a disbelieving bark of laughter.

“Oh, did he? Just came across it during some light bedtime reading?” Obi-Wan said, his voice reaching a nearly hysterical pitch that he couldn’t ever recall hearing before.

Anakin looked quite alarmed now, his eyes darting towards the walkway beside them as if he expected the Chancellor to come striding toward them at any moment. 

“He’s always been curious about the ways of the Jedi, it’s only natural that his curiosity extends to the Sith as well,” Anakin told him, sounding more as though he was trying to convince himself than Obi-Wan.

“No, Anakin, it is  _ not  _ natural,” Obi-Wan replied swiftly, giving Anakin a small shake as if to dislodge the notion from his head. “There is nothing natural about any of this. I told you the Council suspects that this dark lord of the Sith we’ve been searching for is a member of the Chancellor’s inner circle, but with what you’ve just told me, I am beginning to think it may be the Chancellor himself!”

Anakin spluttered, his eyes wide with dismay as he took a step backward, looking horrified.

“Master!” he exclaimed, reverting back to the old appellation in his shock, “listen to what you’re saying!” 

“ _ Think,  _ Anakin! Who else could it be?” Obi-Wan asked sharply, his mouth set in a grim line as he watched Anakin shake his head disbelievingly, staggering under the possibility of it. 

“It can’t be,” Anakin muttered to himself, backing into one of the pylons and sagging against it, looking as though he was going to be ill.

“Who better to orchestrate the fall of the Republic than the man who controls it?” Obi-Wan said, hushed but insistent as he closed the distance between himself and Anakin. “Who stands more to gain from a plot against the Jedi than the Sith?” 

It was though the smokefall that had been steadily encroaching on his senses had suddenly lifted, his thoughts clearer than they had been since before the war had begun. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he closed his eyes momentarily before speaking again. 

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan began softly, waiting until Anakin’s gaze lifted to meet his to continue, “I don’t want to believe it any more than you do, but I know you sense it, too. The Chancellor is the Sith Lord we have been searching for.”

Anakin was quiet for a long moment before nodding, letting out a shuddering sigh.

“What do you think he wants with me?” he whispered, and Obi-Wan tucked his chin between his thumb and forefinger, considering.

“Well, clearly he’s trying to turn you against the Jedi,” he said carefully, speaking as mildly as he could so as not to stoke the fires of Anakin’s distress any further. “And now with Dooku dead, I believe he intends to take you as his new apprentice.”

“I murdered Dooku, Obi-Wan,” Anakin forced out, his eyes full of anguish. “He was defenseless. He was begging me not to, and I did it anyway.”

Obi-Wan blinked in surprise. That was a very different version of events than Anakin had given to Mace when they returned to the surface after their rescue of the Chancellor. But there was no time to dwell on it, because the words were pouring out of Anakin now, each one riddled with more guilt than the last.

“And I  _ wanted  _ to kill him. I wanted revenge on him for taking my hand. I wanted to kill him for hurting you. The moment I realized what I had done, I wanted to take it all back but do you know what the Chancellor said to me?” Anakin went on, sounding almost strangled with remorse. 

Obi-Wan was silent, watching him steadily.

“He told me I had done well. He was testing me, and I did exactly what he wanted me to do. I proved to him that I’m not fit to be a Jedi—” Anakin whispered, his eyes swimming with unshed tears.

“Anakin, that isn’t true,” Obi-Wan interjected sharply, laying a hand on Anakin’s shoulder once more and finding that he was trembling.

“But what if it is? What if I’m exactly who he wants me to be?” Anakin gasped out, and Obi-Wan shook his head violently, gripping Anakin tighter as if to ground them both.

“You aren’t,” Obi-Wan told him forcefully. “This is exactly what he wants, to twist your mind and make you believe the only choice you have is the dark side. But I know you, Anakin. I can see how much light there is in you, how much  _ good _ .”

Anakin’s lip quivered, a spark of hopefulness lighting up his face for one brilliant, fleeting moment. 

“You cannot take back what has been done,” Obi-Wan continued, and Anakin’s face fell before he went on, softer now. “But you are still very much a Jedi, Anakin, perhaps the only Jedi with the power to end this war.”

“I’ll do anything,” Anakin pleaded, fingers of flesh and machinery clutching at the front of Obi-Wan’s robes. “Tell me what to do, Master, please.”

“Before we can act against the Chancellor, we will need to get him to reveal himself. I am afraid that the only way to do that is if you allow him to believe his plan to turn you against the Jedi has been successful,” Obi-Wan said hesitantly, watching as the color drained from Anakin’s face. 

“And what if he figured out it hasn’t been?” Anakin asked, a thread of fear weaving its way through the question as Obi-Wan considered.

“You mustn’t let that happen,” he replied after a pause, with an air of finality that seemed, in a strange way, to reassure Anakin.

He nodded, his jaw set.

“And if I do get him to reveal himself, then what?” Anakin went on, folding his arms over his chest as his brow furrowed intently. “I don’t think he’ll allow himself to be taken into custody.”

Obi-Wan frowned at that, letting out a short sigh.

“I’m afraid you’re right. But we can’t act until he’s revealed himself, lest we risk accusing the most powerful man in the galaxy of something worse than treason,” he murmured, his shoulders slumping slightly. 

“Obi-Wan,” Anakin said haltingly, and Obi-Wan glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes?” he questioned, watching as Anakin struggled for a moment before the words spilled out of him.

“If something should happen to me...please do what you can to keep Padme and our child safe.” 

Something in Obi-Wan’s heart splintered. He wanted to promise Anakin that no harm would come to him, that there was no need for such a request. But to dismiss it felt like a dismissal of Anakin’s fears, fears that Obi-Wan felt just as acutely. So instead, he nodded.

“I will do everything within my power to protect them,” he told Anakin softly, and Anakin inclined his head slightly in response.

The moment of quiet understanding was punctuated by the beeping of Obi-Wan’s comlink, and he pulled it from the inner pocket of his robes, listening as Mace’s deep voice crackled through.

“We are calling the Council into a special session. Grievous has been located.”

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin, locking eyes with him for a brief moment before nodding.

“That is excellent news, Master Windu. There is another urgent matter that I must bring to the Council as well,” Obi-Wan told him, and he could almost hear the skeptical expression in the Jedi Master’s face during the pause.

“More urgent than Grievous?” Mace questioned, and Obi-Wan could have laughed at the absurdity of it all if the situation were not so dire.

_ Yes, we have reason to believe the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic is a Sith Lord. Is that urgent enough for you?  _ But of course, he said none of that, instead only responding with,

“I believe so. Anakin and I are on our way.” 

There was another pause, and then Mace spoke once more, his voice clipped.

“Very well.”

Obi-Wan pocketed the now-silent comlink once more, taking in Anakin’s look of trepidation and drawing in a slow breath.

“I believe the Council intends to send me after Grievous,” Obi-Wan said carefully, and Anakin’s face fell.

“I don’t know if I can do this without you,” he replied, an edge of panic to his words that Obi-Wan knew had to be assuaged before they entered the temple.

“You can, Anakin. I have absolute faith in you. You aren’t questioning my judgment, are you, young one?” Obi-Wan asked, a small smile lifting his lips as he peered at Anakin.

After a moment, Anakin smiled back, and Obi-Wan felt an invisible weight lift from his chest. 

“Never, Master,” he said easily, and Obi-Wan clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly before they set off towards the doors, the sun at their backs.

There was still so much they needed to speak about, Obi-Wan thought, but there was no time, not with the Chancellor and Grievous to contend with. Everything else would have to wait until both of those threats had been neutralized. All they had to do was defeat a Sith Lord, dispose of a cybernetic killing machine, and end the greatest war the galaxy had seen in centuries.

Simple.

.


End file.
